catch on
Britishverb
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to become popular or fashionable
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to grasp mentally; understand
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Understand, as in Aunt Mary doesn't catch on to any jokes . The verb to catch alone was used with this meaning from Shakespeare's time, on being added in the late 1800s. Also see get it , def. 2.
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Become popular, as in This new dance is really beginning to catch on . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Investors seem to have caught on to this fact.
From Barron's
The building bug has been catching on across the U.S. but San Francisco is, unsurprisingly, the heart of the boom.
The cub waited for him to catch on.
From Literature
"Oona's always like, 'Why are you crying?' I was like, 'Because it's so beautiful! I think that caught on to a lot of adults unexpectedly."
From BBC
Eventually even people around Clark Kent have to catch on: This guy might not walk around like he’s a superhero, but he is one.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
